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2021-22 Penn State Nittany Lions

It's game week for Penn State after having this past weekend off, so looking ahead to the series at Brown this weekend:

I know next to nothing about Brown except that they spent the 2019-20 season getting beat up, didn't play at all last season, and their whole coaching staff is brand new this season - not new at all to coaching, but brand new to Brown. This series with Penn State is their first since the end of the 2019-20 season, and they have a young roster - 17 of 24 are freshmen or sophomores, none of whom have played NCAA D-1 hockey yet. Their senior goalie is the only one of three with any playing time at Brown (two seasons), and she has a 3.85 goals-against average. On paper, nothing looks good for Brown in this matchup, but anything can happen. You know they can't wait to finally hit the ice, and the Covid-cancelled season last year had no effect on the ten freshmen on the roster anyway, so maybe that bunch brings a spark to Brown. I'm glad Brown finally gets to play hockey again, no matter the outcome.

This series at Brown is on ESPN+, so it's a pay-per-view deal, but a monthly pass is only $6.99, so you get two games for that and can cancel afterwards (https://www.espn.com/espnplus/player/_/id/39fa0df8-8669-47a6-8632-714b24b7ba19).

This is Jeff Kampersal's last chance to fine-tune the roster, set lines, and try whatever he might want to try before Penn State gets into CHA play at Mercyhurst the following weekend.
 
So BC has won 5 of 6 games 2-1, Clarkson just swept St Lawrence and Franklin Pierce split with Holy Cross including a 4-0 shutout for Franklin Pierce. I'm not sure what all that means. What works against Brown may not work against Mercy Hurst. Union has been getting drilled including by Mercy Hurst only to come up with a 2-2 tie in the second game. PSU obviously needs to avoid that. I notice Mel Ruzzi is coaching Brown and was deserving of a chance to be a head coach. There is no doubt that her players will be playing hard for her.
 
Reddington said:
I notice Mel Ruzzi is coaching Brown and was deserving of a chance to be a head coach. There is no doubt that her players will be playing hard for her.
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I just did a quick read of Mel Ruzzi's bio, and she sounds like someone who can do good things at Brown. She's got a lot of experience with the Ivies, and also at USA Hockey and development camps.
 
Good points, but Syracuse was just pummeled by Colgate twice, I'm pretty sure they are ranked. Syracuse also obtained the same result as Penn State against St Lawrence going 0-1-1. Syracuse took Clarkson to OT twice going 0-1-1. Clarkson just swept St Lawrence.

Analytics can go on and on. Lol. But, I just looked up PSU women's hockey news and joila Goat yoga. PSU obviously treats their athletes very well which is what I like to see. The article was also interesting in that Kampersal said he wanted the girls to be like other students and attend football games. I watched the white out on tv what an experience!
 
zambonidriver said:
Every year is different - not how you start, but how you finish.
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This just made me think of something: does the CHA get to keep its autobid to the national tournament now that it's down to a five-team conference? Or do they get a couple seasons to try to entice a sixth team to join?

Reddington said:
...goat yoga
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I saw that, too, and that cracked me up! Hell, that's worth posting here: https://twitter.com/PennStateWHKY/status/1450824624950980609
 
ZedLeppelin said:
This just made me think of something: does the CHA get to keep its autobid to the national tournament now that it's down to a five-team conference? Or do they get a couple seasons to try to entice a sixth team to join

]
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they keep the auto bid for this year and next. Need to find a sixth team or they lose it after that. I’m very curious what the commissioner and coaches think of all this and what any plans might be as a group or what individual coaches / administrations might be plotting.
 
Lindsay said:
they keep the auto bid for this year and next. Need to find a sixth team or they lose it after that. I’m very curious what the commissioner and coaches think of all this and what any plans might be as a group or what individual coaches / administrations might be plotting.
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Then I'm guessing (whenever a sixth team joins the CHA) the conference will still have to sit two additional seasons at six teams before an autobid is reinstated, like it did after Penn State, Lindenwood, and RIT bumped it back up to a six-team conference after Niagara and Wayne State folded.

Ugh.
 
ZedLeppelin said:
Then I'm guessing (whenever a sixth team joins the CHA) the conference will still have to sit two additional seasons at six teams before an autobid is reinstated, like it did after Penn State, Lindenwood, and RIT bumped it back up to a six-team conference after Niagara and Wayne State folded.

Ugh.
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I don’t think so. Just need that sixth team back in the fold to start 2023 season and things carry on with the auto is. Regardless, shaking angry fists at RMU administration.... and asking them to please come back :)
 
After one period at Brown, it's 0-0. Brown leads the shots on goal by 18-15, and they each took one penalty so far. Brown is a surprise for now...a lot more pep than I expected. One thing I have to say about Penn State, and I've said it before, but this defense is really bad at breaking out of the Penn State zone. They still haven't learned how to pass it out cleanly - many have gone right onto the stick of a Brown player (kudos for hitting an open player, I guess). Also, there's too much standing still waiting for a puck, rather than stepping up and getting it. Okay, those are my gripes...it's scoreless, and I expect Penn State to settle into the game and start doing things their way.
 
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After two, it's 1-0 Penn State on a goal from Julie Gough. Shots on goal are 37-26 for Penn State. Rene Gangarosa took what looked like a really weak five-minute game misconduct, but Penn State killed it off after Brown took a penalty on their powerplay. Amy Dobson single-handedly killed off 40 seconds of the game misconduct with exactly zero help from anyone, just skating, turning, pinning the puck, all by herself...that was fun to watch. Josie Bothun is doing a great job so far, and Penn State is sort of slowly getting into its game, but passing isn't very good. Getting there, but they should be really handling Brown, who hasn't played in two years. We'll see what they do in the third.
 
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Going to overtime tied 2-2...yes, tied. Good grief, Penn State is playing some lazy hockey. Their issues clearing the puck are killing them, as well as the already mentioned weak or head scratcher passes in the defensive zone. Brown deserves a win, even if they don't get it today - they've played with a lot more heart than Penn State has, minus the effort of a very few individuals.
 
And this one ends 2-2 after overtime, and I haven't been this disappointed in a game for a long time. Penn State has no excuse for not beating the snot out of a team that hasn't played in two years. I don't know where their heads are at, but they're not the team they were last season, at least not so far, and they better get it together before conference play starts next week at Mercyhurst. Defense can't pass to save their lives. Players forget they can skate with the puck if there's room. Too many players standing still instead of charging at a puck, or pinching on the blue line. And I don't like blaming refs, but this ECAC crew was bad.

Anyway...shots on goal were 57-48 for Penn State, according to the live stats guy, who may have been drinking something other than Pepsi during the game. Penn State took four penalties, Brown took three.
 
Zed you need to put the headphones on and listen to the Misty Mountain Hop. Maybe the levee will break at tomorrow's game. Hmm that sounds like another song you should know. Syracuse lost to Lindenwood and RPI beat BU. It could be worse.
 
Reddington said:
Zed you need to put the headphones on and listen to the Misty Mountain Hop. Maybe the levee will break at tomorrow's game. Hmm that sounds like another song you should know. Syracuse lost to Lindenwood and RPI beat BU. It could be worse.
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I know, I was in a mood this afternoon for sure. But tomorrow is another day and a new game, so hopefully things get reset and we'll get some good hockey.

Syracuse losing to anyone is good news (haha)...I wonder if Lindenwood is going to be the spoiler all season.
 
Reddington said:
Maybe the levee will break at tomorrow's game. Hmm that sounds like another song you should know.
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I woke up this morning, set up my internet radio stations, and "When The Levee Breaks" came on...first thing I thought was, "Reddington would be proud of me (hahaha)", because who doesn't like some good morning Zeppelin? Well, besides my upstairs neighbors, I mean.
 
That's a good sign!!! I'm sure Kampersal let the girls know that the result yesterday was unacceptable and let's see how they respond or changes he makes.
 
If the prior comments were true and the team lacked fire or enthusiasm from some of the players, would hope Kampersal would sit some players and let others have a chance. This team has way too much talent to be under-performing like this. TBH if they win the CHA and keep playing like this, it would be a darn-shame for this team to get a NCAA bid over one of the WCHA teams who would miss out.
 
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